APS superintendent discrimination/retaliation case set for trial

A trial date has been set for a civil case that claims two former members of Sandia High School’s administration were discriminated and retaliated against by APS Superintendent Winston Brooks.

The trial set to begin October 27th in Federal Court centers around former Principal Michael Bachicha and Assistant Principal Susan Stanojevic. According to the lawsuit, Bachicha approached APS administrators with the idea of promoting Stanojevic. But according to the lawsuit, Winston said in a meeting that he would never promote Stanojevic because she “had screwed a former APS superintendent and slept her way to the top.”

The lawsuit states that Bachicha was bothered by this and the next day told Stanojevic what Brooks had allegedly said.

“Mr. Brooks says the quote was merely inappropriate and we claim that the quote was sexist,” said Pia Gallegos, attorney for Bachicha.

Stanojevic eventually filed a complaint about Brooks’ alleged comment. Soon after, Brooks demoted both Stanojevic and Bachicha. Gallegos claims that action was a direct form of retaliation.

Gallegos and her co-councilor John Stiff plan to paint a picture for the jury that Brooks has a history of making sexist remarks towards women. They plan to bring those controversial tweets into evidence where Brooks compared Public Education Chief Hannah Skandera to barnyard animals. APS is fighting to keep that evidence out of the trial.

A spokeswoman for APS told KOB-TV Tuesday that she couldn’t comment on the pending litigation, but legal documents filed by APS’s attorneys indicate that the district disputes Brooks discriminated or retaliated.

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